Fri, Dec 05, 2008 | 13:37 GMT
Harrison: Home is “brilliantly realised”
Speaking to Eurogamer at Atari Live in London this week, company boss former Sony studios head Phil Harrison said he thought his former firm had succeeded in its aims with Home.
The development team had “brilliantly realised their ambitions,” he said, and predicted that Sony “will have a very successful platform”.
Harrison also tipped his hat to NXE.
“I was quite impressed actually with some of the things that [Microsoft has] done,” he said.
“[Microsoft are] just scratching the surface of what the whole industry recognises is that customisation, socialisation and community platforms are going to be just as important as the games themselves.”
10 comments
#1
Truk
05/12/08, 1:57 pm
“[Microsoft are] just scratching the surface of what the whole industry recognises is that customisation, socialisation and community platforms are going to be just as important as the games themselves.”
Hmm. Faint-praise.
You work for Atari now Phil.
#2
lelik
05/12/08, 2:12 pm
looks like phil wants his job back.
#3
No_PUDding
05/12/08, 2:42 pm
Ahhh Phil…
Well you have Paulina there now, so be happy.
#4
mortiferus
05/12/08, 3:32 pm
C’mon Phil! Clearly both products are radically different, yes, but even you, who helped mastermind Home, have to admit that in a comparison of their only major shared component, social networking and interaction, NXE’s implementation is both conceptually and executionally the superior product. Dont just give it a mild pat on the back, Tell it like it is!
Speaking of scalability, did anyone else noticed how MS is now able to simply roll-out content directly into NXE? The avatar clothing is a prime example of in-place software upgrade. No channels to download, no firmware to download, you were not directed to download anything, it was automagically installed. Very cool IMO.
The photo sharing app is another example of MS smooth concept and execution. And once the movie equivalent is out next year, that will add another bit of coolness that further proves how scalable and innovative the platform truly is.
#5
GordonR
05/12/08, 3:46 pm
@mortiferus
Yes, but will you be able to set your NXE avatar to do a number of silly little dances? That’s the important issue.
#6
mortiferus
05/12/08, 5:10 pm
@GordonR
I never thought about the dancing… dammit, lol.
#7
Cort
06/12/08, 10:35 pm
@GordonR,
No, but you can have your male NXE avatar stand in a way that makes Boy George look like the embodiment of pure alpha-male heterosexuality. And all for absolutely no apparent f***ing reason.
#8
Esha
07/12/08, 12:58 am
@Cort
My NXE avatar likes to look at his hands, I wish I knew why. It makes him look like a bit of a fetishist. He can stand there for minutes, staring down at them, turning them this way and that… it’s disturbing to watch when he goes for a marathon session of hand-staring. No little virtual person should ever be that preoccupied with their hands and nails.
So I feel your pain.
#9
Psychotext
07/12/08, 1:19 am
It does seem like at some point during the development someone overwrote the male animation routines with the female ones.
Either that or there are some SERIOUSLY metrosexual men at Rare. I guess that’s what happens when artists run the show.
#10
Gekidami
07/12/08, 1:07 pm
So since when did socialisation mean ‘cram as much as possible in to an update’? I’m surprised people compare Home to NXE, as far as actually meeting people goes the 360 is still at the same point as it was when it was launched.